Iconic nineties advert star joins Emmerdale in major role – and she’s arriving this week
AN ICONIC advert star is joining Emmerdale this week – and viewers will definitely know who she is.
Millions of television viewers in the 80s and 90s were glued to their screens watching The Gold Blend couple in their adverts.
Couple Tony and Sharon’s love affair began over a cup of coffee – Gold Blend, obviously – and became a surprise hits with viewers.
So much so their relationship was followed for six years in the advertising campaign with twelve 45-second instalments.
It featured actress Sharon Maughan as Sharon and Anthony Head as Tony.
Now Sharon has signed up for a limited stint on the ITV soap – and she’s playing the mother of a major character.
Sharon will make her debut this week as Ruby Fox-Miligan’s estranged and very posh – and not to mention wealthy – mother Helen.
Spoilers have revealed that Caleb is summoned to Helen’s hospital bedside where she reveals she’s terminally ill and wants to reunite with her daughter.
Viewers already know that Helen and her former husband kicked Ruby out of home and cut her off from their family after she refused to leave Caleb – and their scheme to pay him off failed.
Now, riddled with guilt, Helen summons Caleb to her bedside in an attempt to get to her daughter.
He eventually agrees to bring Ruby to see him in return for £100k.
Caleb actor Will Ash said: “So, Ruby and Caleb don’t have any relationship with Ruby’s mum at all. Basically, what her mum and her dad did, when Ruby and Caleb got together, when they were about 17, they really disliked Caleb.
“They hated him because he’d come out of a care home and didn’t have any family. I think they just thought he was beneath their daughter.
“So, Helen was really snobby and judgemental. Helen and Ruby’s dad gave Ruby an ultimatum.
“They basically said ‘look if you want to be with this boy then we don’t want anything to do with you’. They basically just cut Ruby dead.
Most devastating soap deaths
SOAP viewers are frequently left heartbroken after watching some of their favourite characters bite the dust.
Here is a list of the most devastating deaths that have taken place in soapland over the years.
EASTENDERS
Barry Evans – Evil Janine (Charlie Brooks) lured her trusting fiance to Scotland for a quickie marriage after learning he was dying.
Her plan to inherit Barry’s fortune was thwarted when Barry told her that the doctors had mixed up his medical files.
Furious that she was no longer set for a windfall, she pushed Barry off a cliff after telling him their love was “fake”.
Bradley Branning – Bradley was accused of killing Stacey Slater’s rapist Archie Mitchell (Larry Lamb) after he punched him twice on the night he died.
He was spotted in the Square by a police woman who chased him up a fire escape.
Bradley lost his balance and tragically plunged to his death.
CORONATION STREET
Tina McIntyre – Tina was getting it on with Peter Barlow – despite him being married to Carla Connor.
When she threatened to reveal the truth, Carla’s brother Rob got into a physical altercation with her.
Tina lost her footing and fell off a balcony – then warned Rob she was going to tell the cops he pushed her.
In a panic, Rob brutally clobbered her over the head with a metal pipe.
Molly Dobbs – Molly was one of the victims in Corrie’s 2010 tram crash, alongside Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold).
Married to Tyrone (Alan Halsall), Molly had been having an affair with Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) in the months before her death.
This resulted in the birth of their son, Jack (Kyran Bowes), who was named after Jack Duckworth.
As fate would have it, Kevin’s wife Sally (Sally Dynevor) was by Molly’s side in her final moments.
Sally was stunned as Molly confessed Kevin was Jack’s father, before dying of her injuries.
Vera Duckworth – Having appeared regularly in Corrie since the 1970s, there was no denying Vera Duckworth was an iconic character.
Alongside her husband Jack, the pair formed one of the soap’s most beloved couples.
Viewers were heartbroken when Vera was killed off in 2008, being discovered having passed away peacefully in her chair.
Liz Dawn, who played Vera, made a brief return two years later for Bill Tarmey’s exit as Jack.
Paul Foreman – Fans were heartbroken when Paul Foreman succumbed to his illness after battling motor neurone disease.
Introduced in 2018 as David Platt’s (Jack P. Shepherd) cellmate, he later embarked on a romance – and marriage – with vicar Billy Mayhew.
The MND storyline was announced in 2023 – with the expectation it would result in the character’s death.
EMMERDALE
Sarah Sugden – After the family got into financial problems, Sarah’s son Andy (Kelvin Fletcher) decided to make some quick cash from an insurance company by setting fire to the Sugden barn.
He didn’t realise his mum was inside the building, and she got trapped in the blaze.
Nine villagers – The shocking 1993 plane crash episode brought in 18 million viewers for Emmerdale.
Mark Hughes was killed by a falling wall, Archie Brooks was burned by jet fuel, Elizabeth Pollard was killed by debris and newcomer Leonard Kempinski died in a car crash caused by the crash.
Five other non-recurring characters from the village also died.
HOLLYOAKS
Carmel McQueen – The talented singer died in shocking scenes when a train crashed into a her family’s car.
Carmel managed to free her cousin Theresa from the rubble – but got stuck in it herself.
Moments later the train exploded and Carmel died in the arms of her family members, promising to be their guardian angel.
“They were quite vicious really and quite brutal with how they dealt with Ruby. They basically cut her out of their lives. She (Helen) wasn’t a nice person.”
Talking about working with Sharon, Will added: “She is an amazing actress because she only comes in for two episodes.
“We only had a day filming. We were doing all these intense scenes together in a hospital room, in a private hospital, just me and her going at each other really.
“She was amazing. It is hard to come into any show, to just do one day, and have lots of intense scenes. But she was fantastic and really a force of nature really.”